Hook Set On A Football Jig

[woodnut]

I hope I'm putting this in the right section. Tonight I went out fishing with a goal in mind, to learn how to fish the football jig.So found some good cover and pulled the boat to about 30' of water and cast to the cover with the jig I watched the line dart and stop twice so I tighted up a little on the line and felt him on the other end. I dropped the rode just above the water and came straight overhead with the hookset, fish on, get the fish to the boat and can see it's a pretty good smallmouth, he starts fighting alittle harder never breaking the surface and throws the hook. What did I do wrong? Was the hook set wrong? Should it have been a side action hookset? I'm asking because this is the first hookset for me on the football jig and it gets off. I worm fish alot and the over the head hookset just seemed right for the jig. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[BASSclary]

I prefer the 3/4 hookset for jigs and plastics. Not overhead, not sideways, but inbetween. You still get the quick fire hookset, but rotate your body to the side at the same time, so you get a more from your hookset.

 

 

[gobig]

I do not really pay attention to what direction I set the hook as long as its the opposite way. Hopefully it was not a basspatrol jig because you may have left the hook guard on

You may not have done anything wrong, sometimes they just get off. The heavier the weight the more leverage they have to throw it.

[Bluebasser86]

It's part of fishing, you're not going to land all of them and the big ones seem to be the best at tossing the bait. I think what is missing most here is a description of the tackle you were using. Deep water and a heavy jig you should be using at least a 7' MH rod with a high speed reel and floro or braid to help with hooksets. Anything less and you're going to have a hard time getting any penetration on the hookset and a simple underwater headshake like that would be enough to toss your bait.

[woodnut]

It's part of fishing, you're not going to land all of them and the big ones seem to be the best at tossing the bait. I think what is missing most here is a description of the tackle you were using. Deep water and a heavy jig you should be using at least a 7' MH rod with a high speed reel and floro or braid to help with hooksets. Anything less and you're going to have a hard time getting any penetration on the hookset and a simple underwater headshake like that would be enough to toss your bait.

Now you may have hit he nail on the head. I was using a 6' berkley rod with mono line, later into the fishing I changed to a 7' berkley with heavier braided line. I could tell a difference in the feel of the jig while working it on the bottom instintly, but never did get a hit while using that rod. Oh and both rods are heavy and medium heavy.. When working the jig is there a general rule as to how to wiork it along the bottom or just what ever works. I was picking the jig up off the bottom a couple feet then letting it fall back to bottom, should you just walk it across while staying in contact with the bottom? Thanks guys.

[clayton86]

U can do both ill crawl it some times other times I hop it.

[roadwarrior]

Nothing wrong with your hookset, but more generally, you need to be quicker with

a jig. Bass usually spit the jig a moment they sense the weight. Set the hook the

instant you perceive a bite. Sometimes that's a tap, a twitch in your line or your

line moving out.

You will just need to experiment with the presentation. Sometimes it's hop, sometimes

drag. Short hops or long, you just never know. What I do know is that most of the

time, long pauses are VERY productive! Bass are curious creatures. They may

be attracted to your bug, but not committed. You stop the retrieve and the bass

move in. When that "dead" bug moves, BAM!

Here's a thread I really like. Joe.S is a master jig fisherman:

[WRB]

I hope I'm putting this in the right section. Tonight I went out fishing with a goal in mind, to learn how to fish the football jig.So found some good cover and pulled the boat to about 30' of water and cast to the cover with the jig I watched the line dart and stop twice so I tighted up a little on the line and felt him on the other end. I dropped the rode just above the water and came straight overhead with the hookset, fish on, get the fish to the boat and can see it's a pretty good smallmouth, he starts fighting alittle harder never breaking the surface and throws the hook. What did I do wrong? Was the hook set wrong? Should it have been a side action hookset? I'm asking because this is the first hookset for me on the football jig and it gets off. I worm fish alot and the over the head hookset just seemed right for the jig. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

First; you are very lucky the bass didn't drop the jig before you tried to swing. The fact it was a smallie that tends to peck at some jigs saved you, a big LMB would have been long gone.

When casting a jig like a football head; try to keep the rod down and pointed towards to jig, not up at 2 o'clock like worm fishing.

Move the jig by turning the reel handle 1 to 2 turns and stop, shake to rod tip and repeat. Use the rod to lift the jig over snags, otherwise keep it down.

When you detect anything; a tick, pecking, slack line, line movement; crank the reel fast to load up the rod, then sweep the rod back and continue reeling. This is called a reel set and works very well for jigs becuase you move a lot of line quickly and apply high pressure to the hook.

Tom

[Fat-G]

I use braid and set the hook HARD.

[BassThumb]

Nothing wrong with your hookset, but more generally, you need to be quicker with

a jig. Bass usually spit the jig a moment they sense the weight. Set the hook the

instant you perceive a bite. Sometimes that's a tap, a twitch in your line or your

line moving out.

You will just need to experiment with the presentation. Sometimes it's hop, sometimes

drag. Short hops or long, you just never know. What I do know is that most of the

time, long pauses are VERY productive! Bass are curious creatures. They may

be attracted to your bug, but not committed. You stop the retrieve and the bass

move in. When that "dead" bug moves, BAM!

Here's a thread I really like. Joe.S is a master jig fisherman:

First; you are very lucky the bass didn't drop the jig before you tried to swing. The fact it was a smallie that tends to peck at some jigs saved you, a big LMB would have been long gone.

When casting a jig like a football head; try to keep the rod down and pointed towards to jig, not up at 2 o'clock like worm fishing.

Move the jig by turning the reel handle 1 to 2 turns and stop, shake to rod tip and repeat. Use the rod to lift the jig over snags, otherwise keep it down.

When you detect anything; a tick, pecking, slack line, line movement; crank the reel fast to load up the rod, then sweep the rod back and continue reeling. This is called a reel set and works very well for jigs becuase you move a lot of line quickly and apply high pressure to the hook.

Tom

Great posts! I agree 100%.

[woodnut]

Thanks for the great information, I've not been able to make it on the water since this post, but I am going to try my hand at a tournament on Tuesday night. Its a very local little tournament but I have never fished one, so it should be a good way for me to see if its my cup of tea.

[fishinkeebs]

I tend to use Braided line on my jigs.. A good fast retrieve reel like a 7:1.1 works well because you can pick up the line quicker and get those bass out of heavy cover. Also try dragging the jig instead of always hopping it! Hook sets are free.